Youmu Konpaku
"Are you even listening to me? I'm going to cut you down here, and you'll meet your end." General Information In Perfect Cherry Blossom, she gathered all of Gensokyo's spring at Yuyuko's instruction, which was the reason Gensokyo's winter did not end. In Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red and Chapter 13 of Curiosities of Lotus Asia, she took on the responsibility for collecting and returning the phantoms that wandered around Gensokyo as a result of the boundary of the Netherworld being thinned. She belongs to the subspecies of phantoms called the "half-human half-phantoms". Half-human half-phantoms are the mixed-race of phantoms and humans, which have a largish phantom accompanying them and a relativity long life span compared to humans. The phantom that always follows them is called the "half-phantom", and they are the other half of their body. In Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, it was supposed that Youmu's human half manipulates the phantom half consciously. Youmu's human half has a lower body temperature compared to normal humans, and her phantom half's body temperature is not so cold compared to normal phantoms. In the Imperishable Night manual, it was written, "she has two kinds of body: human and phantom," showing Youmu to be "human" and the phantom to be "phantom." Half-human half-phantoms are long-lived, but in Seasonal Dream Vision, since it has still not been 60 years since the time she was born, in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, she was not very knowledgeable about the "flower incident that occurs once every 60 years." Personality As she has a straightforward diligent personality, she is often manipulated by those around her (especially Yuyuko). For this reason, she often fails at her task, but that does not mean that she has no real power, and she particularly excels at instantaneous force and concentration power. She has strong sensitivity, and in the good ending of Imperishable Night, her human half was unable to resist the insanity-inducing effects of the true Moon, causing her to become "half-insane". Ironically enough, considering her species, she is afraid of ghost stories, dares, and darkness, but she is calm around phantoms since she is half phantom herself. In Imperishable Night's Extra. After defeating Fujiwara no Mokou, Yuyuko pretends there is a ghost under a tree, earning a terrified shriek from Youmu. Abilities Youmu doesn't actually have any magical power. She only relies on her weapons. The katana, carried from her left shoulder to her waist on the right side, is the Rounanken. It has been claimed to have been forged by youkai, and has the power to kill ten phantoms in one slice. The shorter sword on her left waist is named Hakurouken, which seems to be the heirloom of the Konpaku family, and can slice through people's confusion. Story During the events of Perfect Cherry Blossom, Youmu was ordered by Yuyuko Saigyouji to gather as much spring essence from Gensokyo as she could in order to get the entire cherry blossom garden, including the legendary Saigyou Ayakashi, to bloom perfectly. Youmu's efforts indirectly caused winter to continue unchecked in Gensokyo, prompting the player to find the source of the problem. Youmu tried to prevent the player from reaching Hakugyokurou, but was defeated. She also tried to stop the player's confrontation against Yuyuko, but was defeated again. In Imperishable Night, she traveled to the world of the living with the intent to fix the moon--although Yuyuko was more interested in finding food. In Phantasmagoria of Flower View, she was minding her own business but kept encountering various people barging into Hakugyokurou suspecting her of being behind the flower incident. When she traveled to Gensokyo herself to behold the spectacle, she had a hunch about what was going on but only realized it fully when Aya Shameimaru pointed it out. Realizing that the incident was caused by an overabundance of spirits possessing the flowers, Youmu cut down some spirits to reduce their numbers a bit. This leads her into confrontation with Komachi Onozuka, who tells her she should not be cutting down spirits while in the world of the living because they haven't received judgement yet. Youmu protests that she's always allowed to kill phantoms while in the Netherworld, to which Komachi replies that phantoms in the Netherworld and phantoms above are two different things. Shikieiki Yamaxanadu hears about Komachi's confrontation with Youmu and comes to meet Youmu herself. She explains about the phantoms inhabiting the flowers, and that the problem will go away by itself and Youmu should leave it alone. She then goes further about how Youmu's activities in the world of the living are coming dangerously close to getting Youmu classified as living and thus subject to judgement, and decides to carry out a little judgement on Youmu beforehand. In the end, Youmu arrives back at the Netherworld. Yuyuko was also asked by Eiki to teach Youmu more about the nature of spirits. Unfortunately, Yuyuko Saigyouji ends up misinterpreting that she's supposed to teach Youmu in a general sense, and ends up teaching Youmu how to pour delicious tea. Eiki in her storyline ends up having to elaborate and clarify her lecture to Youmu when Eiki confronts her again. Youmu's sword works on spirits by severing hesitation, which is the equivalent of helping someone reach Nirvana, and Youmu is not qualified to judge such a thing. In her win quote to Eiki, Youmu apologizes for the trouble she's caused, and thanks Eiki while saying she now understands the nature of her sword. During the events of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, she set off to investigate, concerned as to how and why someone was slaying spirits. After a hint from Yukari Yakumo, she found and defeated Tenshi Hinanawi. Youmu re-appears as a playable character in Ten Desires. She was baffled about the divine spirits, so she went out to investigate. Relationships Yuyuko Saigyouji Youmu is Yuyuko's gardener, bodyguard and sword instructor. Youmu is unquestioningly loyal to her master, though she has a hard time understanding Yuyuko's riddles. Yukari Yakumo Being Yuyuko's servant, Yukari helps Youmu with lessons and advice every once in a while, like in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. Residents of Eientei From Imperishable Night, Youmu is one of the few characters that is aware that three of the residents of Eientei are from the Moon, and presumably keeping it a secret like the others. Shikieiki Yamaxanadu As a yama, Eiki is one of the superiors of Youmu's mistress, Yuyuko. Youmu is aware of the role of the yama and respects Eiki greatly, but hadn't met her in-person until Phantasmagoria of Flower View. In Youmu's ending, Eiki also asked Yuyuko to teach Youmu more about the nature of cutting down spirits. Eiki notes if Youmu loses to her in the story mode that Youmu would normally not go to Eiki for judging upon death. Komachi Onozuka Youmu and Komachi first met in Phantasmagoria of Flower View. As a ferryman under the yama, Komachi could also be considered a fellow employee of sorts with Youmu, although their lines of work do not cross very often. Youmu is aware of Komachi's position and respects her a lot, often thanking her for her work on ferrying the dead whenever the two meet. Komachi also tries to teach Youmu about how Youmu should not cut down ghosts too often, and sees Youmu as "an interesting fellow" in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. Others in General Youmu is acquainted with many other major characters (be it from their visits to the Netherworld or Youmu's own investigations), but generally not close to them personally. Being straight forward and earnest, Youmu tends to get picked on a lot. Quotes "I'm half non-ghost, you know!" "I'll send you to hell!" "Wait, didn't you just say you didn't like sparrows?" "Making a close-up report...does that mean to follow me from behind without permission?" "Sorry to frighten you." Category:Stage Five Boss Category:Neutral